So what are you saying: don't trust or use any cloud services whatsoever? Or only use ones you pay for? I think that's taking it to another extreme. There is obviously an equitable balance between free services and the level of privacy/control one sacrifices. It's up to each individual user to decide. I think an important component of that is how the company communicates with its users, and in this case, the track record of its parent company on similar matters.
So, I don't take an "all or nothing" view, but I genuinely understand where you're coming from. I just don't think it is a "dirty secret" (not with this crowd anyway)
Edit - I'd like to add or underscore that I agree with what you're saying that ToS can change at anytime, etc. My emphasis is on how companies treat and talk to their users. I don't think all cloud services should be painted with same brush, they should be judged on their own merits and how they do business generally. A Facebook-owned Instagram already made people nervous. This change in ToS brought back memories of other unpleasant changes.
2nd Edit - Munroe's comic ends with the idea that it's useless to complain or drop the service. Clearly it isn't because Instagram responded and reverted back to their original ToS. They need users too. They acknowledged that they heard them. The joke misses or ignores that fact.
I agree that the main difference at the moment is how companies manage the conversation, and I'm not a maximalist -- I use tons of cloud services myself -- I just don't think the issues they raise can forever be swept under the carpet. Unless the industry gets its shit together, more and more companies will abuse their position and try to "pull a Facebook" or "pull an Instagram", leading to an inevitable backlash at the legislative level (certainly from Europe, if not the US).
In the meantime, users should be educated on the risks of cloud platforms as much as their benefits, and in this sense I think the strip is very useful.
Comments
So what are you saying: don't trust or use any cloud services whatsoever? Or only use ones you pay for? I think that's taking it to another extreme. There is obviously an equitable balance between free services and the level of privacy/control one sacrifices. It's up to each individual user to decide. I think an important component of that is how the company communicates with its users, and in this case, the track record of its parent company on similar matters.
So, I don't take an "all or nothing" view, but I genuinely understand where you're coming from. I just don't think it is a "dirty secret" (not with this crowd anyway)
Edit - I'd like to add or underscore that I agree with what you're saying that ToS can change at anytime, etc. My emphasis is on how companies treat and talk to their users. I don't think all cloud services should be painted with same brush, they should be judged on their own merits and how they do business generally. A Facebook-owned Instagram already made people nervous. This change in ToS brought back memories of other unpleasant changes.
2nd Edit - Munroe's comic ends with the idea that it's useless to complain or drop the service. Clearly it isn't because Instagram responded and reverted back to their original ToS. They need users too. They acknowledged that they heard them. The joke misses or ignores that fact.
I agree that the main difference at the moment is how companies manage the conversation, and I'm not a maximalist -- I use tons of cloud services myself -- I just don't think the issues they raise can forever be swept under the carpet. Unless the industry gets its shit together, more and more companies will abuse their position and try to "pull a Facebook" or "pull an Instagram", leading to an inevitable backlash at the legislative level (certainly from Europe, if not the US).
In the meantime, users should be educated on the risks of cloud platforms as much as their benefits, and in this sense I think the strip is very useful.